If you need a phenomenal laptop for the complex nature of medical studies, strike this article to find the Best Laptop for Medical Students.
Transition to Medical School can be a major change and you’ll need the right electronic learning tools to get through the epic change and one of these tools is the best laptop for med students.
Medical Science is an advanced study and we know, you’ll have to bear through biological sciences, molecular drug formulas, dissection studies, vivisection, surgery books for MBBS, loads of eBooks, PDF files; indeed, everything related to human body systems.
Therefore, being a medical student, you need to pick the best tablets and high-quality laptops that can last throughout the long educational years either you are just cramming some research papers in first trimesters or practically working using medical software and high-end technology.
Almost all medical schools, either in the U.S or worldwide, try to provide an optimal learning experience to their med students using new technologies for lecture delivery and practices.
And to snap out of all this and to be an active participant in your medical degree, you’ll surely need to choose the best available Laptop.
When you aren’t in a medical school yet, how would you know what configuration and system will suffice your medical education-related needs?
We’ll explain! The article would be your road map to a win-win situation where you’d be cracking the best deal for the laptop and winning a machine that would last long.
Why Do Medical Students Need a Specific Laptop?
Before exploring the list of the best laptops for med school, let’s discuss a little about the need for this gadget for a future doctor to be.
As a student of a high-end degree, you’ll be up for reading detailed health reports, presenting research, watching videos and live tutorials, using special medical software, doing zoom analysis of histology images, analyzing statistical information, reading pdf format of books and presentations, and so on.
The age of paper and pen has now turned into the era of stylus and tablets. Boards have been replaced with projectors and to pace with the time, a laptop isn’t just a facility, but a necessity.
In a Medical College, you may need to learn a new language, memorize the material, make 1000pages-long notes, and Google your queries a lot. And trust me, to note down the details of every lecture would waste waking hours until and unless you smartly use the technology.
Therefore, to make medical studies hassle-free and to hit a high-performance level in the class, owning the best machine is crucial.
How Useful and Effective Medical Laptops are?
The use of medical laptops is beyond PowerPoint, word, and excel. Some of the tutors even share the course through chat rooms. Hardbound books and the traditional model of teaching have been globally replaced with digital libraries and virtual education.
The laptops for medical students facilitate the students in many aspects. For example,
Watching medical videos for long hours on Coursera, DNAtube, CSurgeries, or EYEtube
Understanding the Anatomy of Vitals, Bones, and Veins by searching and reading plenty of Medical Scholarly Articles
Understanding Physiology Flow Charts and learning to run Medical Software like RXNT, DrChrono, and some Pharmacology Software like ViSP, etc.
Not only the MBBS doctors, other med students doing Nursing, Dentistry, Physiotherapy, and Pharmacy, etc. can also benefit from the list provided below.
Best Laptop for Medical Students
Here’s our list of the best laptops for medical education that tick-check all boxes in terms of lightweight design, vivid display, high storage, and long-lasting battery life.
If you aren’t a Technophile, read How to Choose the Best Laptop for Medical Students before exploring the products.
MacBook Air is our top pick for today’s article and is considered the perfect choice for med students as it comes with the fastest SSD that takes no time to boot up and offers the greatest feasibility to let young kids have all that they need.
It’s an excellent choice for remote med students as it’s the lightest MacBook by Apple. Yes, extremely thin and lightweight that supports on-the-go work like taking notes, or watching videos.
If you’re environmentally conscious, you wouldn’t settle for any other laptop as it features a 100% recycled full aluminum design that can bear a huge beating – another addon to the portability.
You’ll feel great comfort while taking exams or notes during the lecture as the trackpad is 20% larger and supports Multi-touch gestures. With its Magic Keyboard, you can type assignments in no time with a quiet typing experience, without disturbing your roommates.
Size matters a lot when a lot of remote activities are involved. The 13inches screen of this mystery box is large enough to help you in retrieving medical records, using split screens, multi-tasking, skimming over for some quick info, and a lot more efficiently.
You can also run Bibliographic Apps on its 13inches portable screen and it’ll significantly assist you in viewing and zooming in and out on anatomy diagrams as well.
Another addon, the Retina True Tone Display takes care of your eyes as it adjusts white points – No more worries while viewing precise, accurate, and in-depth histology images captured through a microscope.
The display is also convenient for instantaneous file & text searches in seconds. You can work/study for long hours without putting much strain on your eyes.
It smoothly runs on Mac OS X. Here’s a drawback, some medical software may have compatibility issues with this OS but Apple has always got solutions. Via BootCamp, Mac can boot up into Windows and restrictions can be resolved.
Confidentiality and privacy can never be compromised and you won’t have to, as this laptop comes with an astounding touch ID, so you can keep your assignments, presentations, student portals, and other data protected.
What if you get your syllabus or videos recorded on a CD/DVD? Well, MacBook Air doesn’t come with a CD/DVD reader but again, Apple offers all the solutions. You can get an external CD reader to attach to your smart laptop.
Last but most important, Apple offers epic battery life of about 13hrs meaning you’d be able to do your studies even in a cafe, mess, transport, or even your off-the-country flight.
We recommend you to watch your budget first as Apple Products are expensive. If you can afford this laptop with your tuition fee, you should definitely go for it. If not, consider some other ways.
What if you can’t find/afford the MacBook Air?
Undoubtedly, If the cost is the problem, there are several solutions:
Go for a quite inexpensive 11inch Model that offers nearly the same functions and same performance.
Consider a renovated corresponding model. Most of the time, they are as pleasant as new.
Cut on the configurations that you don’t need.
If shoestring budget is your issue, you should not be worried about that; below are several budget-friendly laptops for medical students.
Being a Biology or Medical Science student, either you have to do practical coursework, on field visits, or some internships, you need a high-end and super-efficient laptop that can start working in no time.
Lenovo Yoga C940 can benefit immensely and it’s a high choice for students on the move as they have to carry a tablet/laptop all the time. It’s a 14-inch 360-degree Convertible Laptop that assures bright, vivid, and color-accurate screen quality.
The screen also features multi-touch support on a fine 1920 x 1080p resolution which means you can view, write, and search anywhere anytime.
Med Students do have to view high-quality graphics on-screen and for this, it features Graphics optimized CPU Intel Core i7-1065G7 with Intel Iris Plus Graphics Coprocessor that helps to get over graphic-intensive tasks.
This laptop can exceptionally help you in clinical documentation, constant patient care simulations, scheduling, EHR, and using other spreadsheet-based software as it comes with Quad-core mobile SoC that maximizes the turbo speed to 3.9Ghz ensuring unmatched screen performance.
When the CPU and GPU combined with 12GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, they don’t leave behind even one lagging spot and that’s why you too can stay ahead of any type of workload.
It’s a new-gen model and protects over-heating with lower TDP levels and makes sure to live up to the expectations. Also, the backlit keyboard and a nifty fingerprint sensor make it a clear ‘Yes’ for a medical student.
Another best thing is, it weighs some 2.98lbs only and that also adds to its portability quotient and makes it a ‘Gem’ in the retail arena.
With a 12hrs battery backup, you can rest assured of aligned functional traits, super convenience, unmatched reliability, and impressive responsiveness.
Pros:
10th gen processor
Full-stack connectivity
One of the lightest 2-in-1
Long battery life
Cons:
Cost-Effective can be better
If you have different computing needs and are more likely to read eBooks, data repositories, voluminous course material, and other stuff like that, there couldn’t be a clear winner than this Lenovo Yoga C940.
13.3-inch, 1920x1080p, FHD IPS LED-backlit | Windows 8
CPU and RAM
Intel Core i7-7500U, 1.8 GHz | 8GB RAM
GPU and Storage
Intel UHD Graphics 520 | 256 GB SSD
Weight and Battery
2.9 pounds only | Up to 12 hours
Medical study is quite different from other fields as medical students study a broad range of subjects; therefore, they need to download heavy software to proceed with their studies, and undoubtedly, Spectre x360 is perfect to go.
Spectre x360 is a technical laptop that comes in a stylish unibody design. What else adds to its beauty is its convertible and lightweight structure providing an edge for convenient portability.
It is a 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop that can also be converted into a tablet so you can quickly sort out your assignments or can quickly memorize your notes on the way to the exam hall/classroom.
This Intel Core i7 laptop contains a Corning Gorilla Glass Screen that protects the laptop from scratches, bumps, and screen breaking; moreover, it protects your eyes from strain. And yes, the design is all-metal meaning it would survive through thin and thick with you.
This stunning machine can store a lot of your medical lectures, assignments, and notes because it features 8GB RAM with 256GB SSD which is so far quite ample for students.
The favors of this laptop don’t end at memory and graphics but the list continues with a long-lasting battery and ease-of-use via stylus. Your laptop provides a 12hrs backup on a full charge and lets you make your notes uninterruptedly; in short, it completely facilitates you in your medical studies.
You can limit the usage of mobiles with these amazingly handy laptops cum tablets to read, design, scroll, search, or navigate through any type of health curricula. One Gadget, Many Solutions!
Pros:
Ergonomic keyboard
Excellent speakers
Top-grade design
Stylus for writing notes
Light yet aluminum body
Cons:
The all-metal design has its own limitations.
HP Spectre X360 is a charming and appealing laptop that is extremely worthy for medical schools as they help to manage students’ studies and patient treatment. So, why would you compromise with studies when you have this high-grade laptop.
Dell Inspiron laptop comes with a hybrid design; functions both as laptop and handheld tablet, with a 360-degree hinge. That means you can benefit from this laptop very far from writing, editing, or streaming.
It’s a convenient choice for online lectures, making spreadsheets, presentations, reading e-textbooks, making handwritten notes, recording class notes, and whatnot.
The 13.3-inch screen of this laptop isn’t too small nor too big and adds to the portability. Further, it shows images at 1920x1080p Resolution on an IPS LED-Backlit Touch Display and we assure you won’t have any issues viewing those intense dissections and vivisection graphics.
With Truelife Technology, it offers an immersive viewing experience; assisting in watching videos and exploring Software to double the joy, excitement, and educational credibility.
Its wide viewing angles IR Camera will keep you all covered for a perfectly clear and fluent online class or an online meeting. An edge over others!
Dell Inspiron offers Backlit Keyboard, allowing you to adjust the levels of brightness according to your requirements and working in any ambiance with ease. This would also somehow help you to sort out the eye fatigue issues while working and cramming late hours.
To keep you ready for all sorts of tasks and situations, it comes with multiple ports, such as HDMI, USB 3.0, USB Type-C, USB 2.0, an SD card reader. That way, it would surely assist you in improving your academic performance to a great extent.
Pros:
Comparatively cheaper cost
Pleasing backlit keyboard
Hybrid design with a 360-degree hinge
Cons:
Not as vibrant as others
Choosing the right laptop that sits perfectly with the demanding requirements of your course and Course modules is tricky especially when the market has different options and packages. Regardless of your needs, this minion can serve the purpose.
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is convertible, as you can use it as a tablet and in laptop form too. This laptop is best for remote students who use it to work and study in different places.
The CPU of this Surface Pro 6 is the Latest 8th Gen Intel Core i5 and the good thing is, you can choose the configuration right according to your needs. Choose either 128Gb or 1TB, the choice is all yours.
It comes in 12.3 inches Screen which may seem too small, but it’s highly responsive. Either in a hospital or any medical college, a doctor has to go through deeply detailed images more often and for this, Pro 6 has the best contrast ratio of color and offers high color accuracy with unmatched efficiency.
With a day-long 8-13hrs battery backup, you can easily make long presentations and notes by using this time-saving laptop anywhere anytime.
Keyboard features are so reliable as they are smooth and much responsive. You can type your notes while in class or in any presentation very quickly and smoothly.
The surface pen input device is also an eye-catching feature of this laptop. Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is pretty intuitive as the distance between keys and typers is short. So it will be easy and helpful for making medical assignments and to final the long project.
The pen input device is also quite supportive of these it will give you ease in using applications on some simple touch gestures.
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is an upgraded version of the previous configuration. This is an updated, speedy, and most swift electronic tool to help medical students.
Again the same limitation, there are only 3 ports and that could be deal-breaking.
Pros:
Double battery life
Phenomenal display
Smooth keyboard
Responsive screen display
Cons:
Better works as a tablet
If you are a medical student, the display screen, battery life, price tag, and overall performance matters to you the most, and MacBook Pro has got all!
ASUS ZenBook 14 – An amazing laptop with a 92% screen to body ratio.
To enjoy a 17-inches screen in a 14-inch display, ZenBook 14 is the deal cracker. With a very competitive battery life of more than 14hrs, it supports your long hours of work throughout the day and night so you won’t have to rush for the nearest power supply.
ZenBooks are usually very thin but this one is even lighter and thus; exceptionally portable. That means, you can work through long traveling routes, across the sea flights, day-long library hours, till dawn, on a coffee table while waiting over a friend and anywhere you want.
This ZenBook is undoubtedly designed to slay the performance as well as the looks. Its premium built quality comes with a Thermal throttle and exceptionally powerful fan system that not only kills the heat but also runs at a non-existent fan noise. It’d even bear aggressive use!
Considering the price point, this laptop comes with a 512GB immense storage which isn’t bad actually. You can swiftly run multiple open applications and can work through different tabs super fluently.
Yes, the voice output is out-of-the-box with loud and crystal clear speakers which is a plus point for us because using headphones for too long while attending online lectures and keenly watching medical subject-related videos becomes hectic.
Now you can listen to your favorite medical podcasts even without any aid. Further; this ZenBook’s touch screen feature is immensely smooth and lets you lightly navigate through the system making things easier for you.
As a Medical Student, you’d have to write a lot, and to facilitate you while writing, it comes with an easy-to-type-on keyboard that can be easily converted from regular touchpad to numeric keypad.Rest assured that you’re going to enjoy neat and handy statistics.
Pros:
Exclusive dual-function touchpad
Long battery life of 14 hours
Durable build design
Quiet yet exceptional cooling fans
Crisp clear audio quality
Cons:
No optical drive
Though the battery is the top sworn reason for this ZenBook 14, there are plenty of others that make it a sure go-to product. For us, it’s an affordable laptop that Refurbished MacBooks, and also, the device’s collectability is high overall. What a great deal to crack this season!
As said that the first impression is the last impression, so the sleek look of MSI PS42 leaves an adorable impression. MSI PS42’s sleek and minimalistic design gives it a professional yet affordable look.
It’s an Aluminium design with a decent and sophisticated brush steel finish featuring an amazing exterior and eye-catching look.
This laptop gives smooth performance and medical students can get benefit from it by doing their studies and related work in a shorter time period.
Its display is 14” with 1920x1080p screen resolution on a Full HD IPS Display which gives you the best surface to view every little detail of those human anatomy diagrams.
Core i5-8250U 1.6 CPU boosts up to 3.4GHz frequency and combines with an 8GB DDR4 RAM making a strong combination for matchless performance.
Its GPU is graphically so good that it can display the nano things in very high quality. The storage is equally good at 256GB M.2 SATA, so you can store many presentations and Ebooks easily on this laptop without any hassle.
By using the backlit keyboard, you can type your assignments and projects without any speed hurdles. And yes, the Fingerprint sensors make this device more protected and secure as you can save your personal projects and your medical-related hard work without any fear of it being stolen.
MSI PS42 badly lags at the audio speakers, if you don’t want to listen to the incoherent lyrics and unpleasant beats, go for a headphone. It might not matter for you if you don’t listen to an open speaker.
Another deal-breaking point is its battery timing which is only 6 hours long and you’ll have to charge it repeatedly.
Pros:
Inexpensive device
Sleek & lightweight design
Backlit and responsive keyboard
Reliable fingerprint sensor
Wide range of ports
Cons:
Poor audio quality
Shorter battery life
MSI PS42 is a must-buy laptop if you’re tight on pockets but still want a basic machine to get through the degree. And also, it’s sleek, beautiful, and looks high-end. It’s a money-saving device with a huge storage capacity and fascinating display.
ASUS VivoBook feels closest to the MacBook Air, including almost all the incredible similar functions & features like the fantastic MacBook Air.
If you are looking for a laptop whose incredible specs can sustain & support your long working hours, screening burden from various research papers, and high-end assignments; well, you can’t miss out on ASUS VivoBook.
This mystery book comes with an extremely slim and lightweight build – boost up a point to its portability.
Another amazing feature of this VivoBook is that its keyboard is backlit. Serving at an insignificant cost, it’s an excellent deal to offer. For user convenience & comfort, its superb keyboard is tilted at 3.5-degrees; assists in typing at the fastest speeds and ease, so you won’t feel any fatigue in your hands.
This gadget is provided with the Intel Core i5 processor with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, which means multitasking will be extremely smooth and trouble-free with no lags.
You can conveniently work and let your job be done even if your roommate insists to keep the lights off and can meet all the deadlines.
It surely contains the ports to stand out, with HDMI port, USB Type-C port, power connector, 3.5 mm headphone jack, SD card reader, and three USB 3.0 ports, it’s a great kick for compatibility.
The battery backup of this laptop is a little less comparatively as this laptop comes with a 6hrs battery life. But this is not a major issue because 6hrs battery life is still sufficient even for a flight inside the country.
ASUS VivoBook is also accessible in a lot of charming eye-catching colors and the best part is, if you’re under any budget hindrance, still this can be affordable.
Pros:
Comparably cheaper cost
Slim and lightweight build
Backlit and tilted keyboard
Nifty fingerprint sensor
Cons:
Short battery life
Imperfect webcam quality
ASUS VivoBook is a super amazing laptop that comes with powerful configuration, convenient design, great portability, and multitasking support which means it’s able to survive for long. Other than shortest battery life than any other on our list, it’s still a good piece considering other factors.
How to Choose the Best Laptop for Medical Students
Well, the keen-written laptop reviews until now might have served the purpose, still, if you’re not sure what to buy and what to look for, let me explain!
Engineers, Data Scientists, Architects, Non-Tech-Savvy Fields, College Students, or Nursing and Medical studies; every field requires different electronic gadgets with different types of hardware for different tasks.
If you are a Medical Science Student and want to run educational software online, the set of hardware required is mentioned below;
Display:
Usually, a 13’’ FHD screen is average. It’s neither too small to be obstructive nor too large to spoil portability. It can conveniently support split screens and can provide a comfortable experience with a lot of multi-tasking.
Considering the resolution, usually, the 1080p is good-to-go but if you are tight on budget, 900p resolution isn’t a bad deal too.
Any screen 12 inches (measured diagonally) or above is considered reliable in comparison with an oversized screen because as a student, you’ll need great portability.
Weight:
Weight also adds to the portability and sturdiness of the laptop. A heavy laptop would obstruct daily commuting. An optimal choice for a med student would be between 3 lbs to 5 lbs.
It’s always good to choose a laptop as light as possible until and unless it isn’t affecting the sturdiness. After all, running for lectures to clinicals with a laptop on your shoulder isn’t an easy thing!
Storage:
Storage directly affects the fluency of performance. Considering all the aspects, over 128 GB SSD is the least good for med students. For e-books, files compact, videos, pdf files, and short medical animations, an ample SSD is required.
To avoid HDDs obsolete and slow crawling while doing some read/write operations, choose an SSD in a 128-256GB range.
Keyboard:
Being a student, a lot of typing would be required and for this, keyboard responsiveness is utterly important. Responsive enough keys and comfortable key pressing would aid you to type as fast as possible. Similarly, the key travel and actuation is also important.
RAM:
RAM is actually the system memory and it somehow defines the speed of the laptop. For a med student, a minimum of 4 GB RAM is a must to fluently run Microsoft Office and browse the Internet.
But if you think you are about to be a heavy multi-tasker, it’s good to never settle for a RAM less than 8 GB. Chromebooks and Macbooks usually come with an 8GB RAM and support hardcore multitasking.
CPU:
The Processor is the base for a laptop’s overall functionality. For running some software, the ideal processor should be at least Intel Core i5 with 7th or 8th generation and an Intel Core i7.
The CPU should be power efficient offering more battery life so a remote life can be accommodated. For future doctors, a minimum Core i3/Ryzen 3 CPU is recommended and even for technical working, Core i5/Ryzen 5 is on the maximum line.
GPU:
GPU or the graphics card basically aids the graphic-intensive tasks. For a medical student, a GPU laptop is not that crucial but if your budget allows and you go for a GPU, it would be powerful enough to allow you gaming in your spare time.
For students, Intel HD or UHD is ‘the best’ that provides high-resolution displays so you can clearly see the differences between histology diagrams.
Battery:
The longer, the better. For long hours of studying and doing homework, a student might need to save up on electricity bills, and also, students are great commuters. That’s why a laptop with 8to15 hours of battery backup should be preferred.
Budget:
Budget is everyone’s personal decision but overall, a sub-$400 laptop is sufficient for students. Do check on graphics-intensive technologies, VR, and a good GPU to decide either a basic or a high-end model for you.
Conclusion:
It’s not easy to be a doctor; it takes days and nights, blood and sweat, and great dedication. We surely cannot help you in this but we can aid you with a facility to speed up your learning processes so you can make some time for yourself. The above-mentioned products are keenly researched and will surely serve the purpose of being your partner through educational thin and thick. Good Luck!
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
MacBook Air is our top pick for today’s article and is considered the perfect choice for med students as it comes with the fastest SSD that takes no time to boot up and offers the greatest feasibility to let young kids have all that they need. 
Being a Biology or Medical Science student, either you have to do practical coursework, on field visits, or some internships, you need a high-end and super-efficient laptop that can start working in no time. 
Medical study is quite different from other fields as medical students study a broad range of subjects; therefore, they need to download heavy software to proceed with their studies, and undoubtedly, Spectre x360 is perfect to go.
Dell Inspiron laptop comes with a hybrid design; functions both as laptop and handheld tablet, with a 360-degree hinge. That means you can benefit from this laptop very far from writing, editing, or streaming. 
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is convertible, as you can use it as a tablet and in laptop form too. This laptop is best for remote students who use it to work and study in different places. 
ASUS ZenBook 14 – An amazing laptop with a 92% screen to body ratio. 
As said that the first impression is the last impression, so the sleek look of MSI PS42 leaves an adorable impression. MSI PS42’s sleek and minimalistic design gives it a professional yet affordable look.
ASUS VivoBook feels closest to the MacBook Air, including almost all the incredible similar functions & features like the fantastic MacBook Air.
